Trials and Confessions of a HousekeeperArthur, T. S. (Timothy Shay)
General
Trials and Confessions of a Housekeeper
Arthur, T. S. (Timothy Shay)
Home economics -- Fiction; Housekeeping -- Fiction; Housewives -- Fiction
Will you neglect or refuse to be your child's teacher? Shall the
world and its pleasures draw off your attention from your duty when
so much is at stake? or, will you leave your child to glean
knowledge as best it can, thus imbibing all principles and all
habits, most of them unwholesome, and many poisonous? You can
decide--you, the mother. You gave it life, you may make that life a
blessing or a curse, as you inculcate good or evil; for if
through your neglect, or through bad example, you let evil passions
obtain an ascendency, that child may grow into a dissolute and
immoral man; his career may be one of debauchery and profaneness;
and then, when he comes to die, in the agonies of remorse, in the
delirium of a conscience-stricken spirit, he may gasp out his last
breath with a curse on your head, for having given him life, but not
a disposition to use it aright, so that his has been a life of shame
and disgrace here, and will be one of misery hereafter. That child's
character is yet untainted; with you that decision rests--his
destiny is in your hands. He may have dispositions the most dark and
foul--falseness, hatred and revenge; but you may prevent their
growth. He may have dispositions the most bland and attractive; you
can so order it that contact with the world shall never sully them.
Yes, you--the mother--can prevent the evil and nurture the good. You
can teach that child--you can rear it, discipline it. You can make
your offspring so love you, that the memory of your piety shall
prevent their wickedness, and the hallowed recollection of your
goodness stimulate their own.
And equally in your power is it to neglect your child. By suffering
pleasure to lure you--by following the follies of fashion, or by the
charm of those baubles which the world presents to the eye, but
keeps from your grasp--you may neglect your child. But you have
neglected a plain and positive duty--a duty which is engraven on
your heart and wound into your nature: and a duty neglected is sure,
sooner or later, to come back again as an avenger to punish; while,
on the other hand, a duty performed to the best of the ability
returns back to the performer laden with a blessing.
But it may be said, how are children to be trained in order that
happiness may be the result?
It is quite impossible to lay down rules for the management of
children; since those which would serve for guidance in regulating
the conduct of one child, would work the worst results when applied
to another. But we mention a few particulars.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account